About Me

My collection includes photos of myself, friends and family. I also have a growing collection of found photos and older examples of booth pics that I have bought on-line and in junk shops around the world.

In August of 2013, after many years of unexplained, serious health issues, I was diagnosed with a genetic condition called Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (EDS) which is also known as Joint Hypermobility Syndrome (JHS). It is the cause of my ME/CFS symptoms, so my previous diagnosis still stands : I now have a clearer idea of why I am so unwell. EDS/JHS is a hereditary connective tissue disorder that is caused by a defect in the structure, production, or processing of collagen or proteins that interact with collagen. Collagen is an important contributor to the physical strength of skin, joints, muscles, ligaments, blood vessels and visceral organs; abnormal collagen renders these structures more elastic. This leads to many and various digestive, pain, blood pressure, adrenaline and fatigue related symptoms that are extremely unpleasant and debilitating.

As my everyday activities and social life are limited by my illness, I started this blog as a creative outlet and a means of maintaining contact with the outside world. Comments and questions are very welcome. I always do my best to respond to my readers quickly but sometimes it may take a little longer than I would ideally like. Eventually I will get back to everyone, I hope.

Any redistribution or reproduction of part or all of the contents in any form is prohibited other than the following:

– you may print or download to a local hard disk extracts for your personal and non-commercial use only
– you may copy the content to individual third parties for their personal use, but only if you acknowledge the website as the source of the material

You may not, except with express written permission, distribute or commercially exploit the content. Nor may you transmit it or store it in any other website or other form of electronic retrieval system.

149 comments

Della Holbrook said: September 13, 201110:14 AM

Great, Kathy! How long till you publish the photos?! Lots of love, Del xxx

Hi Del
It will be a slow process. You can subscribe to the blog and it will automatically let you know when there are new listings. I think I may be able to link it to facebook, so that the new posts are listed there, also. xxx

Hi Katherine I love the concept of your blog. It’s a great creative outlet when limited by your illness. Blogs are amazing things, we find connections in the strangest of places. How funny we both used Spicks and Specks – great minds think alike. Hope youre feeling bright today Sue

Hi Sue, Thanks for the comment. Yes, that is how I found you through the Spicks and Specks tag. It is also funny that I assumed you were a man from your art work! Looking forward to seeing more of your art.

Dear Kathy,
Thank you for the follow and for the kind comments. Your own project sounds fascinating and I look forward to further blogs.
Am very sorry to hear of your condition. I’ve had a similar post-viral condition myself and it’s hard to have to manage your life, instead of just being able to live it freely.
Good luck with coping with that and with your project.
All best,
Jean

Hi Katherine
I guess my artwork isn’t exactly dainty. I never would have dreamt that it wasn’t obvious so it was an interesting observation. I rarely sign my artwork and usually put my initial and surname so I now wonder if others see my work that way too. Cheers Ms Sue.

Katherine, I collect photo booth photos too!!! In fact, I had my own pictures taken in a photo booth just yesterday. Some of them appear on my tumblr page which you can find through my blog. I look forward to seeing this blog grow and prosper.

If I didn’t have most of my stuff in storage, i’d scan some of my vintage bathing suit photos to send to you. I have a small series from Argentina, all taken by itinerant photographers in the 30s and 40s. Need days to explore all your wonderful collections! Must go back to sleep now.

Hi Katherine, I am sorry to hear about your serious health condition. I am sending you positive healing thoughts and prayers. I too have a real draw to photo booth pictures. I have started a photo booth scrapbook of my own. Whenever I see a photo booth I take the opportunity to grab a friend and jump it. I have some old photo booth pictures from when I was a kid too. I also have some old photos from the 1930’s of family members taken in photo booths. What a fun thing to collect. I would share some with you if you would like. I am in Michigan, USA.

Hi Henning
Yes I have been thinking about doing that for a long while now. My poor health limits what I can get done but the ideas are always there! In the meantime you could check out photobooth.net ‘s listings of photobooth books. I hope to give a more comprehensive visual overview of the titles I have in my collection, many of which I sourced through their list, which only illustrates the covers. Thanks for leaving a comment. Why don’t you subscribe? Katherine

Thanks Rob. I am often blown away by the talent I see in other people’s blogs. Your work and that of Ehpem (anonymous author’s tag name ) at http://burntembers.wordpress.com are two of great merit that spring to mind.

Hi Katherine- I’m so glad I stumbled across your wonderful blog! I was wondering if you’d be interested in doing a guest post on my blog The Museum of Ridiculously Interesting Things, on the topic of Dick Jewell’s ‘Found Photos’ project? It could take any format you wish, but I usually encourage my guest bloggers to try and articulate why they find a particular object or idea ridiculously interesting.It also might be a good way to promote the interesting film he made with your photobooth images, and to promote your cool blog to my readers. Let me know if you’re interested! chelsea.nichols@gmail.com

Katherine, I’m so glad you dropped in on my blog. I enjoyed my perusal of your photos. I hope we’ll keep in touch. Take good care. I live near Toronto, Ontario in Canada. It is exciting, isn’t it, how the web can make these exchanges of ideas possible?!

Thanks Gwen. I love the web, too. I am a big fan of Canada. A friend I studied with many years ago lives in Toronto. I was lucky enough to be able to visit her there at one point. Such a lovely city. I felt immediately at home.

Hi Katherine. I thought you live in the States. Duh! I wish you could go to the photo booth show in Chicago, it would be so fantastic for you. The flip side is (to use a cliche’) there is no place like home. Hope you are well. 👍

Trying my best to be well but doctors like to experiment on me at times. Recently has had negative consequences for me. Good in spirit though and glad to have found you and your fabulous photo blog. One day I will get to a convention, I hope.

PS I did live in Arizona for 2 months so some of your landscapes have a familiar feel to them.

wow, isn’t Arizona fabulous! I was first there in 1977 as a junior in high school (living in Michigan) with my father as a helping hand when we raced 1/4 mile drag boats on Firebird Lake in Phoenix.

And thank you so much for the wonderful appreciation Katherine. Now I will think of you when capturing in and around the valley. I so love to see new posts from you. Always so interesting and fascinating. Be well my friend!

Hi Katherine,
what a great photo-booth journal, especially the old photo-weigh pictures from the 30’s I like most.
I’m a collector of weighing-machines for more than 40 years. I already got more than 10 photo-weigh-Pictures form UK, Germany and France (Moulin Rouge). Up to now I’ve never seen a Photo-Weigh-Booth, I’m still looking for it even a Photo or a Picture is helpfull. Is there an existing Photo-Weigh-Booth anywhere in Europe? Do you have any further information about these combined machines Weighing-machine and Photobooth?

If you like, I will send my little collection of Photo-Weigh-Pictures to you via email.
All the best
Claus
Germany

Good for Ted and thank you for the attention!, I’m sorry to hear you have a cousin with EDS. as an inherited disorder, I am guessing others in your family are affected? Unfortunately if effects my blood pressure so badly that I am limited a lot in what I can do. Now having an iPad, I can blog lying down! That helps a lot!

Hey! I am intrigued, amused and fascinated by your photobooth obsession, and i love it. What an excellent thing to do. I wish i had some to send you, but sadly…. Now, which part of Leicestershire did you live in? I was in Quorn for ten, or was it eleven years, worked at the Leicester Royal Infirmary. Interesting to read about the EDS. maybe one day we will talk about all this together.

Hi Tony, Thanks for your message. I guessed you were a doctor due to your xray pics. I love your obsession, too! I lived in South Knighton and worked in Shepshed, so not that far from where you lived, I’d guess.

Hi Katherine,
I just found your blog via a comment you left on Hero Culte, and am so glad I did as it’s wonderful. I was quite surprised to click your About page and find someone who, like me, is an Australian with the combination of ME/CFS and hypermobility. I’m also blogging for the same reasons as you, to have an outlet and a line to the ‘outside world’. If you ever want to chat, feel free to email me. Meanwhile, I will be adding you to my blog links :).

Hi Christine,
Thanks for getting in touch. I’m glad you like my blog! Yes, it is very surprising we both have the same dreaded combination of illnesses. It would be great to chat sometime. I am off for my first weekend away in three years, so maybe when I get back? That is, if I haven’t completely collapsed by then!

I had a quick look at your blog. It is very impressive. You certainly know and love music. Were you too ill to blog from 2008 to 2016? I hope that was not the reason. Which blog platform is it on? I couldn’t work that out. I like your taste. I have a cassette by Conchita Velasco, I think it is called Chica ye ye. I had no idea that that was a style of French pop music.I adore Serge Gainsborough, France Gall and others whose names I cannot recall just now. I have an amazing CD of bollywood music from the 1960s that epitomises what you do on your blog. I bet you have it. This is my favourite 60s Indian pop song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnBbjc5hmho&list=FLBr3pg_UveWeIqOhWnOr_qQ&index=49

Hi Kate. Thanks for your kind words about my blog. Yes and no to being too ill to do it for that time. It certainly made it take longer for me to get back to it than I wanted.

Yep, yé-yé is early-to-mid 60s French pop/rock. Spain also adopted the term after the French and that’s why you get a song like ‘Chica ye-ye’. I was hoping the link would be to ‘Jaan Pehechaan Ho’ – my favourite too! (Thank you, Ghost World).

So lovely to stumble upon you in my search for avid photoboothers. I hear they are taking the last remaining booth from Flinders St Station this Sunday!!! What can we do???? I do hope it is going to a good home!

I run a website for local and family historians about photographers in Cambridgeshire in the UK from 1840-2000. I’ve picked up a bit on photobooths along the lines of identifying and dating small portraits people find amongst their family pictures.I wondered if you had come across anyone who has produced any information relating print sizes to particular types of photobooths. For example I have some UK images datind from 1929 (give or take a year) which are in a strip 45mm wide. I’m wondering if these are from a photomaton machine. I’ve other images on a strip 37mm wide, and others 40mm wide- in the last case the rear of the strip is badged “PMI” which I think must make them from a Photo-Me International booth. I’d very much like to build on this more techie info if you or any of your readers are into this side of photobooth image collection.

Hi Les,
I’m so sorry I didn’t find this comment until now. I’ve been very unwell this year an dthings have gotten away from me. The best person to contact about technical issues I think might be Meags Fitzgerald in Canada. I will see if I can find her contact details. Twitter might be your best bet.
Kate.

Dear Katherine,
I am photo editor of a new german magazine for men. It is called CORD MAGAZIN and the first issue is coming out on 28.11.2017. It is a lifestyle magazine with a certain focus on mindfulness. Please see as well: http://www.cord-magazin.de
We will have an article about a couple finding the perfect match and we would like to show Photobooth images. My question is, could you license some images for me?
We would be happy to print like four-five Photobooth couples. Thanks for getting back as soon as possible. You can contact me via my email Address: braun.elisa@guj.de

Hi Elisa
I sent you an email as soon as I received your comment. Did you receive it? I seem to be having trouble with my email account but only with International messages, it seems. Please let me know and I will resend from another account.
Kate

My sister lives in Dublin. She sought out the last known photobooth location but found nothing there. To my knowledge there are only digital booths left there. Good luck with you photobooth travels. Do you know the booth finder on photobooth.net/?

Hi Katherine, I admire your work here, the amount of time and effort you put into these collections. I’ve only scratched the surface but will be back to peruse some more. I hope your health improves. You are certainly an interesting person.

Thank you so much for these Walter. I hadn’t seen these links until you alerted me to them.

I follow many of these rules for eating (apart from eating a lot of beans and pulses as I am intolerant to those ☹️. They cause me a lot of pain) and although I’ve tried, I just love my coffee so much I don’t want to give it up. Her recipes look lovely and there is always something new to be learned and tried, so I will cook one or two and see if I can some more variety to what I eat.

Hi, Katherine. I don’t see a contact form, so I hope it’s ok to leave you a note here. I just wanted to let you know that my site lizgauffreau.com is public again. (I’ve spent the last three days redesigning it.)

Hi Liz. Here is perfect and is a comfortable place to alert you to a teeny error on your welcome page. You want to say “I am drawn to the inner lives . . .” but it actually says “I am drawn the inner lives . . .”. I’m struggling with migraines at the moment but triple checked I hadn’t read it incorrectly but then again it is possible it really is right! I loved the design of the site. It looks really good! Best wishes, Katherine or Kate, if you would like.

Hi Katherine, I’m an audio producer, I interviewed Alan and Lorraine (had set it up prior to the Flinders st threats!) and they thought I should get in touch with you- my email is sarahamashman@gmail.com
Cheers,
Sarah

Hi Katherine, I interviewed Alan and Lorraine (set up long before the Flinders st removal threat!) and they thought I should get in touch with you. I’m an audio producer. Please send me an email. 🙂
Cheers,
Sarah (sarahamashman@gmail.com)

I am very sorry to hear about your illness. I find your blog quite fascinating. I have been looking at all the photos of Becky, they are quite cool apart from having an historical value. What a great idea, photobooth photos! I will definitely spend some time going through your site. Awesome!!

While I don’t have your condition or M.E./Fibro, I’ve spent all my life (well, since age 3) coping with illness, mostly fatigue, so I understand how you must feel – or at least, a little of it – all the time. It’s difficult to live a normal life, actually mostly impossible, so there’s always the need to find one all-consuming interest and try to stick at it. You with your photobooth pics, me with my colouring. Hugs. x

And hugs back to you Val. I’m so sorry to hear you are coping with health issues, too. Thank goodness for computers (iPads mostly) and the internet! My life would be significantly worse without both. For ninety five percent of the time it takes to write and comment, I blog lying down. My fatigue and headaches are exacerbated by being upright. Do you need to lie down a lot too? I remember that you are self taught. Such an achievement when struggling with illness!

No, I sit most of the time. If I lie down too much I get dizzy. Also my muscles just start siezing up completely then. Computers have been a blessing and a curse for me… I spend far, far too long on them (only recently got a mobile phone and rarely have it on as I keep forgetting I have it!)

I was reading, earlier on, about the illness you have, that must be so incredibly difficult to cope with.

It isn’t easy to cope with but we just have to. 😞. Yes, the addictive (for me anyway) nature of screens can be a curse. I’ve still got a “dumb phone”. I avoid using it wherever possible. I get really stressed when it rings. 😬